ANALYZING CHILDREN’S ORAL LANGUAGE IN AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS CLASSROOM

Abstract

Grounded on theories of language (Blair, 2000; Britton, 1970; Halliday, 1991; Vygotsky, 1978), this research aims at analyzing and understanding children’s oral language in an English Language Arts classroom at an elementary public school in western Canada. The study was conducted with four Grade 4 students coming from different cultures within 13 consecutive weeks of the semester. Class observations and audio recordings were employed for data collection to grasp holistic and ethical understandings of their oral language. Data was analyzed based on color-coded themes, which results in four significant findings: (1), the diversity of children’s oral language functions; (2), the Participant and Spectator roles of language in connection to embedded speech and displaced speech; (3), the interaction of Girl Talk and Boy Talk; and (4), the children’s peer support through Zone of Proximal Development. This research also showcased that respectfulness for cultural diversity in classrooms and teacher’s pedagogies and support are beneficial for children’s language development.